Kennywood Park Retiring 4 Rides
Kennywood has officially announced that they will be retiring four of its classic rides.
• Kangaroo
• Paratrooper
• Bayern Kurve
• Volcano
The full statement from Kennywood Park is as follows:
“Even in a National Historic Landmark, change is a constant at Kennywood. In the past three years, we’ve invested more in new attractions than at any previous point in the park’s storied history. Thomas Town has created a new destination for children and families from all over, featuring some of the world’s most popular characters. And while 2020 was a challenging season for Steelers Country, 2019’s Best New Roller Coaster and the unprecedented partnership between team and park hold great potential for the future.
“Part of the evolution is a continuous examination of the sustainability, capacity and popularity of our attraction lineup. As part of that process, the following rides are being retired: Kangaroo, Paratrooper, Bayern Kurve and Volcano.
“While these attractions have created countless special memories for our Guests and Team Members over the years, we have determined the best path forward at this time is to say goodbye. We hope you will join us in cherishing the memories with these rides, and we look forward to adding new attractions that create new moments to treasure in future seasons.”
There are many reasons for classic ride removals such as sustainability, ride popularity, and the cost to maintain these rides. Furthermore, the removals fit the multi-year “face lift” that is in the works for the park as Palace Entertainment (Kennywood’s parent company) develops their new headquarters in Pittsburgh. This Summer, Kennywood welcomed a new General Manager as well as a new Food & Beverage Director. Yinzers can expect even more changes over the course of the next few years as Kennywood becomes the company’s flagship park.
In a statement, Palace Entertainment’s Chief Operating Officer John Reilly said: “Positioning our support teams in the Steel City better aligns our entire company to create great guest experiences at Kennywood and across our unique portfolio of twenty-one parks and entertainment centers in the United States and Australia.”
The sudden removal announcement of these rides will hit hard to amusement park fans as the news comes after the park has already closed for the 2020 season — leaving guests with no closure. A similar situation occurred when the former Geauga Lake park in Ohio closed in 2007 and never opened its gates again. Fans are still bitter after not being able to get those last rides and photos.
We spoke with Kennywood spokesperson, Nick Paradise, and asked about the future of the rides. He said: “There are no immediate plans beyond removal”.
With that said, if they end up being placed in storage, there is always that chance we could see these rides return again sometime in the future… along with the turnpike..
Idlewild, the nearby sister park has also announced attraction closures today.
Are you looking forward to Kennywood’s future? Or will you miss these classic rides? Join the facebook discussion and tell us your thoughts here: https://www.facebook.com/coasternation/posts/3778471388854401
For more information, please visit the official Kennywood website by clicking here.
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